Tempaper Designs

I mentioned here that I bought my first wallpaper from One Kings Lane before the holidays. It's by Tempaper. Tori Spelling used tempaper in her son's nursery. I love the turquoise and gold pattern of the paper and I love how she used bold color choices in the furniture. Check out her son's room below:

Honey Jade Marrakesh

 

All images via Project Nursery

As you can see Tori used the temp paper in the entire room and it looks great! However, I would probably use it in a bathroom or on a focal wall. I'm not sure I could handle that pattern in an entire room. But, I'm sure she has the resources to change it in a few years where I would have to keep it for a while and get my money's worth!

I love the concept of Tempaper in that it is such an easy process to adhere to the walls. You literally peel the paper and stick it on the walls and it can easily be removed (no scraping involved). You can watch a video here. They have a great selection of papers, too. Here are my favorites:

Zee in Teal

Damsel in Coral

Honeycomb in Citron

I was initially going to hang mine on one wall in our downstairs hallway. However, I underestimated the size (I'm guessing I didn't measure) and it looks like I could have enough to do the entire hallway unless I choose to do it on a different wall in another room. Decisions, decisions. I'm hoping to make one soon!

Weekend Consignments

Saturday morning I picked up coffee and a croissant at my new favorite coffee shop and went consignment shopping in my town. It was a great morning. First, I stopped at Benjamin Moore for paint samples (more on that in another post). Here were some of my favorite items:

This would look great in another color!

One of my purchases! Check back soon for a makeover project.

I love this old fashioned sled, especially in pink!

I am still contemplating these window frames as wall decor or on my mantle, $30 each

Shabby chic light plates, $8 each

Window frame: can attach wire in back to hang pictures

Smaller window frame, $25 (paint is washable)

I'm also contemplating this table to use in the nursery (painted, of course)

I also picked up a picture frame that will be posted on the blog soon (chalkboard project) and a red utensil holder. My total shopping purchase was $20. A good day!

A Bright and Happy Work Space

This was the perfect time to come across this office on Apartment Therapy since my office is "under construction." I love the pastel blue color on the walls and the contrast of the bold red floral window panels. I also love the bright yellow vintage lamp and her bookcase styling. I definitely need to figure out some storage solutions so this is some great inspiration!

Apartment Therapy

Anthropologie vs Michael's

While browsing at Michael's yesterday I was surprised by their Anthropologie replicates at (obviously) non-Anthropologie prices. Check out these great finds below. I can't imagine they will be in stock for very long. The crates, bowls, and egg containers are all great storage solutions for jewelry and other small items. But, would also add some color to your kitchen. The jars are another way to add a fun element to add to your kitchen (or office!) with the chalkboard labels. They can hold pantry essentials, spices, ribbon (see here) just to name a few ideas. Enjoy!

And, my favorite are these vases. They remind me of these, which range from $18-$28. With a 50% coupon you could buy a few of these for the price of one at Anthropologie.

House Updates

This weekend I finally gave in to realization that my husband will not be hanging pictures for me and if I want to get it done, then I need to just do it myself. I've had the "Family Rules" canvas print for at least a month just sitting against the wall. I went to Lowe's and bought a variety of picture hangers. In our office I replaced my husband's diploma (we'll have to find a new home for these) with the Hula print I bought a while back at Home Goods. I finally ordered prints from mpix (great quality) and created the photo collage in our upstairs hallway. I added the flower hook to the bathroom to hold a hand towel. The lighting isn't great in the picture, but the walls are cream and the hook is light blue. The flower hook is Anthropologie.

I bought new vent covers at Lowe's and replaced two in our house: white in the bathroom and silver in our front room. A very inexpensive update ($10-$20 each) that you can easily make in your home.

I'll be making a trip to Ikea this week to pick up more frames and storage for Ellie's craft supplies. We moved the Expedit bookcase from our office down to the playroom for toy storage so I need to clean and reorganize our now messy office!

What I'm Loving Now

I've decided that Sunday mornings are my time to plan our week for meals. I feel much more productive knowing I have everything I need to make about 3-4 meals/week. The past couple Sundays I have gone on Pinterest looking at the recipes I've "pinned" and making a list of the ingredients needed. Pinterest has been a great way to try new meals. I recently came across this amazing website filled with lots of delicious recipes. Today I have barbeque pulled chicken in the crock pot. I also use a binder filled with recipes and use tabs for different categories (pasta, chicken, seafood, beef, etc). It helps keep all of my recipes organized. I use plastic page protectors to keep the page clean during cooking.

I also came across this website filled with fun and colorful patterns in fabric and wallpaper. Here are my favorites:

I can picture this fabric used as curtains in my new baby girl's nursery. I love the aqua funky chevron print.

A pretty wallpaper. Great for a small bathroom or bookcase.

I am always looking for new art for our home. I love this vibrant, colorful print:

Hadrian Print, by Michelle Armas

I recently tried out Citrus Lane's monthly box subscription. I just received my first order in the mail and it was filled with such great products! Your box is personalized for your child's age and stage. Click here to sign up and receive $10 off your first order. Here was this month's box (and, yes, Ellie got a Skiphop frog lunchbag!):

Ellie's Room!

I first posted pictures of Ellie's room back in 2011 before she was born. I made a few changes, including adding the monogram, new curtains, wall decor, and replaced the dresser and glider. I really love the light blue walls. My favorite items are still the "Giant" picture, the chandelier, and the monogram. We love the new glider. It's so soft and comfy. I'm so glad we got one for both of the girls rooms. It's definitely a chair that they will have for a long time. The flowers above her crib were Pottery Barn inspired, but were found at Home Goods for only $7. Because of the slanted walls I had to be creative in wall decor placement. I hope you enjoy looking at the pictures as much as we love spending time in there!

View from doorway

Some of our favorite reads!

Her everyday bow collection!

Opposite wall: 1 closet, 2 doors (not my design choice, but it works)

You can read all about the room details and the sources list in our "House Tour" here.

Sold!

You know Ellie's first dresser that we just moved into the nursery? Well, I realized it was just too much for the room. We already have the built-in closet system plus another roomy closet and the dresser seemed too big as I envisioned the crib and glider in there, as well. So, I posted it on Craigslist two days ago and already that night I had interest. I posted it for $250 and when a guy emailed asking it for $200 and said he could pick it up on Wednesday I agreed. I wanted it out and the sooner, the better.

To refresh your memory, I bought this dresser on Craiglist before Ellie was born (winter, 2011):

Painted it white and lined the drawers with paper (see project here):

I bought the dresser and a small chest for $30 total, primed and painted it white (approx $30), and lined the drawers ($20). So, two years later, I made a profit of $120. I will have to buy a smaller dresser or a changing table (decisions!) to use as a changing table. I'll be searching online and consignment shops for the perfect piece, again!

Updates: Ellie's Bedroom

Ellie was one lucky girl when we found the perfect bedroom set on Craigslist. It was such a great deal, too. The set included a wide dresser, a night stand, full trundle bed, and mirror. The bed and mirror are currently in the garage. We moved Ellie's old dresser into the nursery. The bedroom furniture is beautiful. It's cream colored and made of real wood and looks brand new.

I've had my eye on an aqua glider at Babys R Us for months. The last time I went in there it was 50% off for that color (both glider and ottoman). It was so comfortable and although I liked our current glider, it was a handy me down and it was not the prettiest colors. This one would complement the nursery's hot pink walls and would grow up with the girls. This is how I convinced my hubby that we needed to buy it. After sitting in it he loved it, too. So, we bought the matching set for the nursery and just the glider for Ellie's room (since we just use it to read books in now).

Here it is in Ellie's room (paired with Ellie's patchwork quilt from Lauren, via Etsy):

I also just bought this 3 Sprouts storage bin I've been lusting over for months. I bought it at a local children's store. It currently holds Ellie's stuffed animals and dolls. I'm thinking of going back to get the raccoon one that will match her playroom.

3 Sprouts

Here is a glimpse into our second baby girl's nursery. Shown is the dresser against one of the windows and you can see the hot pink paint color:

 

Check back this week for updated pictures of Ellie's room!

First Project of New Year

It was a productive weekend. I can cross off the faucet off the "project list." My father in law came over Saturday morning to help my hubby remove the old one and put in the new one. We bought at Delta from Lowe's and it looks so much better! There was mineral build up around the faucet and it was impossible to keep clean.

 Before (yuck!):

 After:

We also installed a retractable gate between the kitchen and front room. Ideally I would have liked it at the bottom of the steps, but there isn't anything for it to be drilled into opposite the wall (just the banister).